Abstract

AlN films of different thicknesses were deposited on n-Si (100) substrates by reactive radio frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering. Dependences of structure and electrical properties on thickness of deposited films were researched. The structures of the films were analyzed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and with transmitting electron microscopy (TEM). Electrical properties of the films were investigated on Au-AlN-(n-Si) structures by means of current-voltage (I-V), capacitance-voltage (C-V) and deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) techniques. Electron microscopy investigations had shown that structure and chemical composition of the films were thickness stratified. Near silicon surface layer was amorphous aluminum oxide one contained traps of positive charges with concentration of about 4 × 10{sup 18} cm{sup −3}. Upper layers were nanocrystalline ones consisted of both wurzite AlN and cubic AlON nanocrystals. They contained traps both positive and negative charges which were situated within 30 nm distance from silicon surface. Surface densities of these traps were about 10{sup 12} cm{sup −2}. Electron traps with activation energies of (0.2 ÷ 0.4) eV and densities of about 10{sup 10} cm{sup −2} were revealed on interface between aluminum oxide layer and silicon substrate. Their densities varied weakly with the film thickness.

Thin films of tungsten oxynitride were prepared by dual magnetron sputtering of tungsten using argon/oxygen/nitrogen gas mixtures with various nitrogen/oxygen ratios. The presence of even small amounts of oxygen had a great effect not only on the composition but on the structure of WOxNy films, as shown by Rutherford backscattering and x-ray diffraction, respectively. Significant incorporation of nitrogen occurred only when the nitrogen partial pressure exceeded 89 percent of the total reactive gas pressure. Sharp changes in the stoichiometry, deposition rate, room temperature resistivity, electrical activation energy and optical band gap were observed when the nitrogen/oxygen ratio was high.The depositionmore » rate increased from 0.31 to 0.89 nm/s, the room temperature resistivity decreased from 1.65 x 108 to 1.82 x 10-2 ?cm, the electrical activation energy decreased from 0.97 to 0.067 eV, and the optical band gap decreased from 3.19 to 2.94 eV upon nitrogen incorporation into the films. WOxNy films were highly transparent as long as the nitrogen incorporation was low, and were brownish (absorbing) and partially reflecting as nitrogen incorporation became significant.« less

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited by cesium (Cs)-assisted dc magnetron sputtering in an attempt to achieve a high performance at low temperatures. The films were deposited on SiO{sub 2}/Si wafer and glass (Eagle 2000) substrates at a substrate temperature of 100 degree sign C with a Cs vapor flow during the deposition process. The ITO thin films deposited in the presence of Cs vapor showed better crystallinity than the control films grown under normal Ar/O{sub 2} plasma conditions. The resistivity of the films with the Cs assistance was lower than that of the control films. The lowestmore » resistivity of 6.2x10{sup -4} {Omega} cm, which is {approx}20% lower than that of the control sample, was obtained without any postdeposition thermal annealing. The surface roughness increased slightly when Cs vapor was added. The optical transmittance was >80% at wavelengths ranging from 380 to 700 nm.« less

We report on highly crystalline zinc nitride (Zn{sub 3}N{sub 2}) thin films which were grown by rf magnetron sputtering on quartz substrates. The substrate temperature during growth is found to strongly affect the crystal quality of the thin films. The chemical bonding states were determined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Large chemical shifts in core-level N 1s peaks with binding energy of 396.4 eV were observed as compared to N 1s of free amine (398.8 eV), indicating Zn-N bond formation. Two N 1s states were found: one is N{sub 1} formed by Zn-N bonds and another is (N{sub 2}) produced bymore » substitution of N molecules at N ion sites, which leads to larger lattice constants, consistent with x-ray diffraction results. Temperature-dependent Hall effect measurements of our Zn{sub 3}N{sub 2} films exhibited distinct conduction mechanisms at specific different temperature ranges.« less